Jan 27, 2007

2007 week 05: Articles in Proteins

Getting one's protein in a bunch -- When quality control fails in cellsOver time, a relatively minor mistake in protein production at the cellular level may lead to serious neurological diseases. But exactly how the cell avoids such mistakes has remained unclear until now. Researchers at Ohio State University found the mechanism that prevents such errors, and explain their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Quantum biology -- Powerful computer models reveal key biological mechanismTroy, N.Y. -- Using powerful computers to model the intricate dance of atoms and molecules, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have revealed the mechanism behind an important biological reaction. In collaboration with scientists from the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health, the team is working to harness the reaction to develop a "nanoswitch" for a variety of applications, from targeted drug delivery to genomics and proteomics to sensors.The research is part of a burgeoning discipline called "quantum biology," which taps the skyrocketing power of today's high-performance computers to precisely model complex biological processes. The secret is quantum mechanics -- the much-touted theory from physics that explains the inherent "weirdness" of the atomic realm.

Microtubule protein interactions visualized en masseIn a new study published online in the open access journal PLoS Biology, Philipp Niethammer, Eric Karsenti, and colleagues investigate the regulation of microtubule dynamics via application of their new method, called visual immunoprecipitation (VIP), which enables simultaneous visualization of multiple protein interactions in cell extracts.